Burma, America, The World, Art, Literature, Political Economy through the eyes of a Permanent Exile.
"We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the oppressed. Sometimes we must interfere. . . There is so much injustice and suffering crying out for our attention . . . writers and poets, prisoners in so many lands governed by the left and by the right." Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize Speech, 1986, Oslo.
This entire site copyright Kyi May Kaung unless indicated otherwise.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1112/19/acd.01.html
Poem found by Kyi May Kaung on Anderson Copper 360
Interview of Laura Ling and Lisa Ling on death of Kim Jung Il of N. Korea by Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Accessed 12-21-2011
The late dear departed.
. . . The grieving, as you'd imagine, is intense for a leader they had been told first walked at three weeks of age, talked at two months and authored -- not read, but authored 1500 books while in college.
. . .
They, like most North Koreans, not likely aware their fallen ruler scarfed lobster and swilled fine cognac while an estimated million ordinary North Koreans starved to death during the famine his economic policies created.
. . .
When Kim Il-Sung died, North Koreans were told -- and they apparently believe this -- that a thousand white cranes tried to carry him off to heaven but were prevented from doing so by the pull of his devoted followers.
Added by KMK:
What do these 3 little dots mean?
They mean that there’s something in between.
End found poem.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-182-2012
13 October 2012
---------------------------------------------------------------------
BURMA: Air force officer tortured, jailed for 20 years over Internet
use
ISSUES: Torture; arbitrary arrest and detention; right to fair trial
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been alerted to the case
of an air force officer currently serving a 20-year jail sentence for
posting articles online critical of the armed forces. Ne Lynn Dwe was
taken by military intelligence from his barracks in December 2011 and
held incommunicado before being sentenced in April 2012 by a military
court martial, before which he had no legal representative. He
allegedly suffered torture and has had psychological problems since.
CASE NARRATIVE:
On the night of 12 December 2011 officers from military intelligence
came to Ne Lynn Dwe, 38, at his camp in Myeik, southern Burma, and
told him to go with them by aircraft to Rangoon. Once there, Ne Lynn
Dwe was detained and accused of having posted some 70 articles to the
Internet since 2009 detailing military life and the hardships and
difficulties faced by ordinary service personnel. In March 2012 a
court martial convened to hear the case, and in April it convicted him
and sentenced him to 20 years in jail for violating the Emergency
Provisions Act by doing actions to undermine the military; and, the
Electronic Transactions Law, for using the Internet illegally.
Photo: Ne Lynn Dwe
While in custody, Ne Lynn Dwe was allegedly tortured, and treated
inhumanely. He was held without his family having access to him. Each
time he was taken for interrogation, his face was covered and he heard
only the voices of his interrogators. They injected him with some
substance that made him lose his sense of self and answer questions
uninhibitedly. While being held in custody he was kept handcuffed and
for some time was allowed to wear only a singlet and shorts. Later he
was given one sarong and shirt, for the duration of his four months in
custody while awaiting court martial, and during the court martial
process.
As a result, he is today suffering psychological problems,
specifically, he is not able to recall names other basic information,
and sometimes cannot speak clearly. Furthermore, when the case came to
court martial he did not have a lawyer. Nor has his family since been
able to obtain the records of the trial, and therefore what
information is known about it has been drawn together by them from
visits to the central prison since Ne Lynn Dwe's conviction.
Throughout the duration of his custody, from time of being taken to
Yangon until after his court martial, Ne Lynn Dwe could not meet his
family, or other persons.
Not only did Ne Lynn Dwe himself suffer but his family also was
directly and indirectly affected. After Ne Lynn Dwe's arrest, his
possessions were not returned to the family, on the pretext of not
having the means to send them, and the military did not pay his salary
for his time in detention prior to conviction. The family has also
lost his military pension and was in February 2012 forced to leave the
military accommodation provided to them.
Additionally, aside from Ne Lynn Dwe, two other officers were also
imprisoned regarding related alleged offences. They are Acting Major
Min Htun Thein, who received seven years, and Captain Chit Ko, who
received 10.
Further details of the case can be found in the sample letter below,
as usual.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
The laws under which Ne Lynn Dwe was convicted are incompatible with
human rights and with the democratic values that the government of
Myanmar now claims to be espousing. The Emergency Provisions Act is
completely outdated and inapplicable to the current times, in which no
emergency situation exists of the sort for which that law was framed.
Legislators have made submissions for the law to be revoked and I urge
that these submissions be treated seriously. The Electronic
Transactions Law is a malodorous piece of legislation whereby
practically any form of Internet use could conceivably be cast as a
criminal offence, for which a convicted person is liable to
imprisonment of periods that are completely disproportionate to the
alleged crimes of the sort that the accused in this case was supposed
to have committed. Therefore, these laws ought also to be revoked.
The AHRC is aware of other similar cases in recent years in which
army personnel have been convicted of offences over the use of
Internet or similar; however, most are reluctant to speak up against
their imprisonment for fear that matters could be made worse.
For many more cases and issues concerning human rights in Burma,
visit the AHRC's country homepage:
http://www.humanrights.asia/countries/burma
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter to the following government authorities to urge
that Ne Lynn Dwe be released from imprisonment. Please note that for
the purpose of the letter Burma is referred to by its official name,
Myanmar, and Rangoon as Yangon.
Please also be informed that the AHRC is writing separate letters to
the UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights in Myanmar; on torture, and
on freedom of expression; and, the Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention and regional office in Bangkok, calling for their
interventions into this matter.
SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear ___________,
MYANMAR: Air force officer allegedly tortured, sentenced to 20 years'
imprisonment without fair trial for Internet use along with two others
Name of victim: Ne Lynn Dwe, 38, air force captain, stationed at
Myeik Air Force HQ, currently detained at Insein Central Prison;
married with two children (aged 12 and 3)
Arresting officers: Officers from Military Affairs Security
Date of incident: 12 December 2011 to present
Court martial: No. 23/12, convened by Light Infantry Battalion 435
under order dated 2 March 2012, charged the accused under section 3,
Emergency Provisions Act, 1950; and, section 33(a), Electronic
Transactions Law, consistent with the 1959 Defence Services Act,
sections 65 and 71, sentenced to 20 years in jail
I am writing to call for the release from prison of an air force
officer accused of writing and posting online material deemed by a
court martial to be damaging to the Myanmar armed forces, who was
detained without correct procedure and convicted in a patently unfair
trial after allegedly being subjected to torture.
According to the information that I have received, on the night of 12
December 2011 officers from military intelligence, Military Affairs
Security, came to Ne Lynn Dwe at his camp in Myeik and told him to go
with them by aircraft to Yangon. Once in Yangon, Ne Lynn Dwe was
detained at the Light Infantry Battalion 435 base in South Okkalapa
Township, and accused of having posted some 70 articles to the
Internet since 2009 detailing military life and the hardships and
difficulties faced by ordinary service personnel. In March 2012 a
court martial convened to hear the case, and in April it convicted him
and sentenced him to 20 years in jail
I am informed that during the time that Ne Lynn Dwe was in custody he
was held without his family having access to him and that he was
allegedly tortured. Each time he was taken for interrogation, his face
was covered and he heard only the voices of his interrogators. They
injected him with some substance that made him lose his sense of self
and answer questions uninhibitedly. While being held in custody he was
kept handcuffed and for some time was allowed to wear only a singlet
and shorts. Later he was given one sarong and shirt, for the duration
of his four months in custody while awaiting court martial, and during
the court martial process.
As a result of the inhuman treatment he is today suffering
psychological problems, specifically, he is not able to recall names
other basic information, and sometimes cannot speak clearly.
Furthermore, when the case came to court martial he did not have a
lawyer. Nor has his family since been able to obtain the records of
the trial, and therefore what information is known about it has been
drawn together by them from visits to the central prison since Ne Lynn
Dwe's conviction.
The laws under which Ne Lynn Dwe was convicted are incompatible with
human rights and with the democratic values that the government of
Myanmar now claims to be espousing. The Emergency Provisions Act is
completely outdated and inapplicable to the current times, in which no
emergency situation exists of the sort for which that law was framed.
I am aware that legislators have made submissions for the law to be
revoked and I urge that these submissions be treated seriously. The
Electronic Transactions Law is a malodorous piece of legislation
whereby practically any form of Internet use could conceivably be cast
as a criminal offence, for which a convicted person is liable to
imprisonment of periods that are completely disproportionate to the
alleged crimes of the sort that the accused in this case was supposed
to have committed.
Not only did Ne Lynn Dwe himself suffer but his family also was
directly and indirectly affected. After Ne Lynn Dwe's arrest, his
possessions were not returned to the family, on the pretext of not
having the means to send them, and the military did not pay his salary
for his time in detention prior to conviction. The family has also
lost his military pension and was in February 2012 forced to leave the
military accommodation provided to them.
In view of the above alleged arbitrary arrest and detention, torture,
and unfair trial of Ne Lynn Dwe I urge that his case be reviewed
promptly and that he be released from custody and be allowed to return
to his young family. I am further informed that aside from Ne Lynn
Dwe, two other officers were also imprisoned regarding related alleged
offences. They are Acting Major Min Htun Thein, who received seven
years, and Captain Chit Ko, who received 10. I urge that these
officers also be released.
I also take this opportunity to call for the revocation of the
Emergency Provisions Act and the Electronic Transactions Law, since
both of these statutes serve the purpose only of violating the human
rights of persons in Myanmar, and are incompatible with the expressed
intention of the current administration to democratize.
Yours sincerely,
----------------
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. U Thein Sein
President of Myanmar
President Office
Office No.18
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
2. Vice Senior General Min Aung Hlaing
Commander in Chief
Defence Services
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
4. General Ye Aung
Judge Advocate General
Ministry of Defence
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel: +95 67 404 088/ 090/ 092/ 094/ 097
Fax: +95 67 404 146/ 106
5. U Win Mra
Chairman
Myanmar National Human Rights Commission
27 Pyay Road
Hlaing Township
Yangon
MYANMAR
Tel: +95-1-659 668
Fax: +95-1-659 668
6. Ko Ko Hlaing
Chief Political Advisor
Office of the President
Naypyitaw
MYANMAR
Tel-+95-1-532 501 ext-605 / 654 668
Fax-+95-1-532 500, 654 668
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)

http://money.cnn.com/2012/10/28/news/hurricane-sandy-businesses/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
I made my supermarket run while my laundry was spinning dry.
Took a photo of empty shelves near the bottled water.
Heard someone say, "Olives" near my ear.
Some people looked more like they were preparing for a party.
There was lots of bottles of martini mix on the shelf near the bottled water.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/28/travel/tropical-weather-transportation/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Encouraged by so many people reading my blog, I send you CNN on Sandy shutdowns of AMTRAK, NJ Transit, etc etc. beginning 6 PM today.
Glad I suspended (i.e. cancelled) my own trek out to opening of new Burmese monastery in Virginia.
VA as you know is a foreign land.
The prospect of meeting so many Burmese again so soon (last met Sept 20th when Daw Suu was in town) made me tired before I began - only person I wanted to see was/is my dear friend who invited me.
Better for me to go get some supplies at supermart and prep for Sandy - do my laundry, wash my dishes - such exciting stuff.
If I sound amused or bemused, has nothing to do with you or USA.
Reading my funny friend's blog Kanlaon and about her eating and taxi driver adventures on Bacalog.
***

Friday, October 26, 2012

http://pinklineproject.com/event/169
Wangari Mathai has now passed away.
Burmese monks' reputation in the west, so hard won in the 2007 Saffron Revolution, has been tarnished by some of their number, either fake monks or real (in Burmese Buddhism you can freely enter or leave the Order)
allowing themselves to be used by the ruling junta in "demonstrations" (one of my colleagues calls them racist Neo-Nazi hate rallies) against the Muslim Rohingya.
Even the exile media based in Washington DC, well one of them, keeps inserting the term "Bangali" or "Bengali"which is the junta's preferred term.
One says "Bengali Rohingya Muslim"
Actually, the descriptor "Bengali" as in "from Bengal"
is misleading and evil as it discounts that the Rohingya have been in Burma since the 9th century and the present borders were only drawn in the 20th.
"Rohingya Muslim" is also redundant, since Rohingya in Western Burma are part of larger group of Burmese Muslims, who have also been in cities like Mandalay for a very long time.
In the ancient world, members of ethnic groups such as Indians, Chinese, Portuguese and so on were constantly moving around over quite large distances.
Religions such as Buddhism (Tantric-Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism) - Hinduism, the Muslim religion etc. also moved with the people traveling for trade or religious reasons.
It is naive and silly and evil, to say only a certain people have rights to live in peace in a certain geographic region.
So far only Aye Chan Naing of the Democratic Voice of Burma, based in Oslo, Norway, (in my opinion the only station not kowtowing to the junta)
has said the Rohingya need full citizenship rights in Burma.
How else are they going to make their contribution as valuable citizens, not wanton child breeders, as the Burmese junta depicts them?
***

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/aung-san-suu-kyi-the-rohingya-of-burma-and-the-challenge-of-faith/2012/10/24/31901eda-1e11-11e2-9cd5-b55c38388962_blog.html
I don't think it is right to blame someone who has no real power in Burma, and is being used by the junte herself to help the western sanctions get raised.

Analysis from Anonymous:
Date: Thursday, October 25 and Oct 26, 2012.
Here are some of the crucial factors that are at work behind a
misleadingly oversimplified media and regime's narrative of "sectarian
violence":
1). Kyauk Hpyu, the designated location for the multi-billion dollar
economic projects including the Special Economic Zone, a deep-sea port where
China's Mid-East oil will be destined for re-transportation overland
to the Southern Chinese Providence of Yunnan. (The two Burmese off-shore
gas pipeline and the Mid-East oil pipelines projects will be located
here. This is what connects the war in Kachin State, which the
pipelines will run through, before they reach Yunnan, and the ethnic
cleansing of the Rohingya in Western Burma. The pipeline will run almost due west to east.
The economic motivation behind the violence, probably state sanctioned, has to date only been picked up by a few analysts, and not by Myanmar Government and the international media.
2). From the Burmese regime's perspective they “see the fingerprints of
the Taliban” in the violence in Western Burma, involving Rohingyas -
and now ALL Muslims - and the Rakhine. So, the generals want to make
sure they preemptively purge Kyauk-hpyu of any Muslims - not just
Rohingya - to protect against, preemptively, their Chinese-joint
venture economic assets/projects.
These are areas where Muslims, Rohingya or otherwise, have lived side by side
and mingled for generations. So, even some Rakhine (Arakanese) veterans of the
Burmese Military were upset by the fact that the troops there were
allegedly ordered by Naypyidaw to let the Muslims and Rohingya (or
Bangali in their lingo) run for their lives - despite the fact that
these targeted victims have nowhere safe to run to.
There have been consistent reports from the ground that the
government firefighters were not putting out the fires, but spraying
petrol on the burning houses to accelerate the burning.
3). The Bangladeshi-born and/or connected "Bangali Rakhines" who are
active with the Arakanese Liberation Party/Army - an armed
organization whose mission is to purge the Arakan of all Muslims - is
heavily involved. The Bangladesh-born Rakhines (Arakanese) are known to be far
more rabidly racist towards the Muslims and the ALP-supporting
Rakhines are, essentially, threatening the more moderate "Bama
Rakhines" (Burman Arakanese) to partake in the final wave of ethnic cleansing of the
Rohingya and the Muslims. Some of the armed ALP elements are said to be
coming from Bangladesh. (An ALP leader, a woman, recently returned from Bangladesh with official permission from Naypyitaw, and has set up an office in Arakan State)
4). Recent attacks on Buddhist temples and monasteries in Bangladesh
are a sign of things to come and can trigger full-scale
Buddhist-Muslim hate-killings in both countries.
5). Not all Rakhines are racist and neo-Fascist. Many in fact have lived peacefully with various Muslim communities for generations in integrated villages and towns.
Emphatically, Rakhine Ethno-Nationalists such as Bangladesh-born national-level MP Aye Maung and local/provincial level Than Htut Aung (MP for the local Rakhine State Parliament) are said to be directly involved in mobilizing anti-Muslim, anti-Rohingya protests and the latest wave of violent attacks.
Several more factors that help explain the recent spate of violent attacks against the Rohingya.
6. Naypyidaw itself - that is, President Thein Sein and his office -- is aggressively dodging any inquiry being carried out by the 27-member Presidential Riot Inquiry Commission.
7. The key, most crucial members of the Commission - the two-Cornell trained members: the historian Dr Myo Myint, retired Director-General of the Religious Affairs Ministry and the political scientist from Singapore Dr Kyaw Yin Hlaing - are no longer showing any interest in the Inquiry. Myo Myint was a Fulbright scholar in the USA. Kyaw Yin Hlaing was pushing for engagement as early as 2002, and a regular visitor to Burma. He accompanied President Thein Sein to the USA recently, and acts as adviser and interpreter. He is probably the one who told the BBC Hardtalk journalist that if he “did not like the question, he might ask Thein Sein not to answer it.”
8. The Commission's strategic role, in retrospective, has served Naypyidaw's purpose of preempting any push for a truly independent, external inquiry about the ethnic violence in June in Western Burma. Thein Sein’s “commission” is there just to placate western critics and to put democracy advocates such as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the comedian Zarganar and U Nu’s daughter Daw Than Than Nu in a spot.
9 The Border Affairs Minister - Lt-General Thein Htay, a Danu from Shan State and informal regime contact between Aung San Suu Kyi and the senior generals - is one of the most trusted pets of the 'retired' Senior General Than Shwe (Thein Htay, an engineer by training from Rangoon Institute of Technology) serves or served as a key member of the Myanmar Economic Holdings, the military's umbrella corporation overseeing its institutional assets. (It’s former name was BEDC – Burma Economic Development Corporation – headed by Brig Gen Aung Gyi who died a few days ago. UMEH – Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings, Ltd., is widely regarded as the economic front of "Burmese Military Incorporated".
10. There is every reason to believe that these men are carrying out their strategic plans/goals - including purging Western Burma of Muslims, not just Rohingya - as blessed by Than Shwe himself.
Glossary and who’s who.
Thein Sein – nominal “reformist, moderate” President.
Than Shwe, hard liner, former President – said to be “retired”
Arakan (now called Rakhine) – coastal strip state in Western Burma.
Burma, now called Myanmar by junta.
Arakanese (Rakhine) – an ethnic group.
Rohingya, a subset of all Burmese Muslims, living in Western Burma since 9th century.
Burman, mainstream majority, subset of Burmese.
Naypyidaw or Naypyitaw - purpose-built capital city -- started 2005 in Central Burma - site of Than Shwe's home - use Google Earth to look for it - and the Hluttaw or "parliament". Aung San Suu Kyi was under her latest stint of house arrest, May 30, 2003 to Nov 13, 2010, when it was built.
***

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/25/living/color-wedding-dresses/index.html?hpt=hp_bn11
Of course we in S and SE Asia always knew color is best.
In Thailand and some parts of SE Asia, white is color of (royal) mourning - see recent funeral of King Sihanouk in Pnom Penh, Cambodia, with royal ladies in white lace tops.
Queen Monique wore a whitish suit to match her white hair.
She is French or part-French.
Thai nuns and Buddhist novices wear white robes.
It's all in the head.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_6KuYtc0Z8
Wheels on the Bus go Round and Round.
*This site, as stated up front in our mission statement, is
primarily for adults over 18 years of age - and is a political and arts blog.
You should supervise your child closely at all times when they are on the Internet.
This is posted as a special courtesy to Children of Burmese Dissidents who might not have other resources such as enough books or toys, and need songs and nursery rhymes.
Kyi May Kaung

--- On Thu, 10/25/12, CFOB wrote:
From: CFOB
Subject: Postmedia: Quiet welcome for Burmese foreign minister gets noticed
To: cfob@cfob.org
Date: Thursday, October 25, 2012, 5:18 PM
Quiet welcome for Burmese foreign minister gets noticed
Lee Berthiaume, Postmedia - OCTOBER 24, 2012
OTTAWA — The Conservative government has been accused of trying to hide the visit earlier this month of Burma ’s foreign affairs minister.
The Conservative government has made a big deal of highlighting Canada ’s re-engagement with Burma after years of frozen relations caused by the Southeast Asian nation’s poor record on human rights and democracy.
The government has pledged to open a new embassy in Burma , which is also known as Myanmar , while Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and International Trade Minister Ed Fast have made separate visits.
Not by coincidence, Canadian companies in the oil, gas and mining sectors have made noises they are very interested in breaking into the market, which is already rife with similar firms from the U.S. , Europe and Asia .]
This has prompted concerns business interests will supercede human rights and democratic progress, which are still in a tenuous situation despite recent improvements.
From Oct. 2-4, Burmese Foreign Minister Wunna Maung’s visited Ottawa — the first by a Burmese foreign minister since 1969 — as part of what appears to be a round-the-world tour to reach out to partners and put a nail in his country’s international isolation.
But neither Foreign Affairs nor the government went out of their way to call attention to the visit — prompting a strong reaction from one pro-democracy Burmese group in Canada .
The Canadian Friends of Burma, which has been the most outspoken voice on democracy in Burma over the years, said it only learned of Maung’s visit through the Asian nation’s state-run media.
In a statement, the group said “it is unnecessary — possibly unprecedented — for the Government of Canada to keep such a ministerial visit secret.”
“Therefore, we urge the Government of Canada, especially foreign affairs officials, to be more transparent on policymaking in Burma .”
A Conservative official dismissed the concerns, noting a photo of Maung and Baird was posted to the Foreign Affairs website, the official noted, while the Burmese foreign minister was recognized in the House of Commons gallery after Question Period.
“Anyone who follows Burma ’s political development would have known the foreign minister was visiting,” the official said. “So it was hardly secret.”
http://o.canada.com/2012/10/24/feds-quiet-welcome-for-burmese-foreign-minister-gets-noticed/

http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/17331
I distinctly remember the time he came to RFA in 1998.
The goats' balls there led by "lady big bust" wanted to give a lot of air time to Aung Gyi saying "the military is the last hope of Burma." The entire interview in 2 parts was about 15 minutes long.
There was an inquiry, then Big Bust, now with BBC Burmese, wanted to use my good name to whitewash her own involvement.
She brought me a tape recorder and asked me to translate it for her.
I was pissed off. I gave the Marantz back to her, saying, Miss BB, you know English and Burmese too, why don't you translate it yourself. Then I walked to the RFA Presdt and the VP and exec officer's offices and reported the matter - but then Alex came and prevailed on me to finish the translation. The Burmese dept head was on a short visit to ASEAN at the time.
I translated it as it was - at one point Aung Gyi said to a question about who funded his trip "I sold my wife's diamond ear rings to come."
I ask you, which Burmese wife would allow that.
So BB was not happy with the translation, and assigned the little non-Burmese,non-Burmese speaker, Amish girl secretary to "edit" my English.
This time I took the matter to RFA's Public Relations official, then Pat Lutz.
Pat came to my desk, asked where the Word file was and "click" sent it to the US Embassy in Rangoon.
That is how the RFA Burmese dept head, BB etc all had it out to push me out. That, and for saying "Nobel Peace Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi" on air every time I mentioned her on air, when the goats balls department head had said it was "repetitious" and saying "Burmese democracy leader" would be enough.
This Saw Yan Naing article is the Truth.
Aung Gyi initially lost his number two status with Ne Win about 1964 because he made a trip to Japan, in which he gave an interview and was touted as the new bright young man for Burma. This was the same way Dr Nyi Nyi was pushed out. Because of a profile in Time Magazine.
Ne Win was not about to allow that and got rid of him/them immediately.
I am glad all these stories are now coming out. They are after all true.
Kyi May Kaung

Total page views have achieved a new peak of over 106,000 hits.
Per day page views hit new daily peak of 382.
Previous peak was 375.
Per item (post) peak was 43 today for just one item -
Junta police seen handing out gasoline . . .
from U Tun Khin of BROUK.
Thank you U Tun Khin and BROUK brothers and sisters for collecting info on the ground.
This shows that independent activists are delivering what mainstream news media is not able to do yet.
kmk
http://kyimaykaung.blogspot.com

Frustrated by the snail-like slowness of Burmese exile media, who can't keep up with the activists, I decided to try journal-style blogging like my friend now in Bacalod, Kanlaon.
So the process on the windows outside is coming along - the sounds now of hammering to fix what we called in Burma - kyauk pone yaik te - i.e. making the wood molds to hold the cement in.
The sucking sounds were either cement being pumped into the molds or the window sills outside being vacuumed with a giant vacuum - sshlock, schlump.
I've written to the magazine and university that owe me some money for honorariums.
I've re-applied to display ads on this blog.
Since September when Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's DC visit caused me to go out, and see old friends again, I've gone around seeing said old friends - gone to a Baptist church, gotten armloads of dahlias and shasta daisies from N's garden, plumbed the depths of Ai Weiwei's philosophical, political and activist mind at the Hirschorn and seen Lincoln ads. and quotes for the upcoming film with Daniel Day Lewis on the DC metro - and wow, does he look like Lincoln. No doubt will sound like Abe and walk like Abe too.
Daniel Day Lewis is of course the son of the Narnia author, British theologian C.S. Lewis, a contemporary of Tolkien.
DDL is a brilliant actor, scary in his brilliance.
If you don't believe me, go see There Will Be Blood.
Like Silence of the Lambs, it scared me just to read the script.
I have seen the movie, There will be blood.
Not going to see Silence ever though.
Well, the dental work and drilling on the building facade starteth, and so I am decamping for the movie theater to see Argo.
How fortunate to live within walking distance of a movie theater.
Ciao for now.

Dear All,
Please share our Press Release with your contact groups.
Best,
Tun Khin
Date: 24.10.2012
Hundreds Killed and Thousands of Homes Destroyed in Arakan State
During the last 24 hours, BROUK has received the following information
from the ground;
1. A Rakhine mob set fire to Yin Thae Village and Parin village of
Mrauk Oo where Rohingya are living. Police forces were seen giving
containers of petrol to the mob to burn down Rohingya houses. More
than 600 houses burnt down in both villages. Eyewitnesses say that
more than 100 Rohingya were killed by the mob while setting the fires.
2. According to an escaped victim, many Rohingya had run away to
hide. Police had called them out of their hiding places saying that
they (the police) had come to control the situation and would make a
truce between them and the Rakhine. Believing what police had said,
killed them and the police did not stop them. Around 350 Rohingya
women and children were hiding near the cemetery of Parin Village. The
Rakhine mob and security forces killed almost all of them according to
escaped victims who witnessed the attack. Many of the Rohingya who
escaped the attacks are now in paddy fields, with nowhere to go.
3. A Rakhine mob set fire to Nagara Pauktaw village, Min Bya
Township.100 Rohingya houses burnt down. More than 200 Rohingya were
slaughtered by the mob according to eyewitnesses.
4. A Rakhine Mob set fire to Paikthae Village Kyauk Phyu Township.
While Paikthay village was on fire, the fire fighters came to the spot
with tank load of petrol in the guise of putting out the fire. More
than 600 Muslim houses were burned down. We can’t confirm exact number
of the deaths of Rohingya at the moment. Many Muslims fled into to
the sea and others are in hiding.
5. 10:30am UK time two villages were set fire in Pauktaw Township.
According to latest information many people are jumping to the river
to escape. At the moment, it is very difficult to get any news out of
these regions as the authority is confiscating all the cellular phones
that Rohingya have to stop news reaching the outside world.Tun Khin President of BROUK said “Ethnic cleansing is happening under
the noses of the international community and they are doing nothing.
These are not communal clashes; this is not equal sides fighting. This
is state organized and state sanctioned ethnic cleansing where the
vast majority of those killed and displaced are Rohingyas. The
international Community has staked so much on Thein Sein‘s reform
process that even when he proposed ethnic cleansing they stayed
silent, and even when ethnic cleansing takes place they stay silent.
There is no way this violence would continue if the government
genuinely wanted to stop it”.
BROUK President Tun Khin also said “Whenever there is ethnic cleansing
the international community says never let it happen again. Well it is
happening again right now in Burma and once again the international
community is failing to act. There needs to be UN observers on the
ground immediately.”
For more information, please contact Tun Khin +44 (0) 788714866

. . . The world has kept on turning. A quarter-century later, the Burmese military can join hands with God to swat a million people who drift with swollen bellies on the Irrawaddy Delta, ungainly water lilies floating among the debris washed here and there on the sluggish waves then, as an afterthought, decorating the carcasses on the bank where sharp-eyed carrions cannot believe their luck.
Meanwhile, in a distant palace, a general undoes his armored vest to allow his full belly to expand. He burps and through his empty mind passes no thought of those drifting bodies nor of the tens of thousands crushed by hunger, sorrow, and pelting rain. Instead, sated after his meal, he vaguely surveys mentally the accumulated riches sent by a grieving world, signals for his plate to be removed, unwary of the waiter who approaches, thick kitchen chopper in hand and who splits open his skull, the waiter who has lost eleven family members in the Delta, who will avenge them so their souls can float away in peace, who no longer minds paying the price.
Saïdeh Pakravan

Maung Zarni
SPREAD THE WORD. SHARE THIS AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE.
"MYANMAR AS ASEAN's BOSNIA"
The Pentagon and CIA are welcome. OIC's relief office is NOT. This is the essence of "reforms" in Burma, yes, those reforms Aung San Suu Kyi has endorsed.
Why did Naypyidaw renege on its official agreement to let OIC open a humanitarian affairs office in Burma?
Simple: OIC presence would have been rather inconvenient for the reforming Burma in times like these when the Rohingya properties and houses are burned down, families driven out like stray dogs, OIC would be bearing witness to the continuing on-again off-again periodic ethnic cleansing of these people on their own birthplace.
Buddha (sic? Burma) forbids that OIC takes videos and pictures of Rohingya villages burning, children and women slaughtered and neo-fascist state and racist society act in collaboration towards their shared mission of ridding the country of Muslim Rohingyas.
This is BOSNIA - except that ASEAN is no NATO.
ASEAN has neither the collective spine, nor the social conscience nor humanistic heart.
Editor's note - I sometimes post notes from other writers expressing their own views. I may or may not agree with them -
kmk

Head of Kuan Yin, Goddess of Mercy - Columbia University Campus.
Photo copyright Kyi May Kaung
In India she was worshiped as a man. In Burma she is called pa kyaw medaw.
kmk

I just re-posted my 2007 obit of Daw Than E Fend (Aunty Dora).
Here are some of the things I found out when her friend or factotum posted me her memorial service.
These are details of her life that are written in the memorial program sheet, which must have been released with her express consent, as she was such a very private woman, in spite of her glamor and the interest of many people - which would naturally have included many men.
Aunty Dora married Werner Fend.
They divorced, but Aunty Dora continued to be friends with her ex-husband, even after he remarried and had children.
As fate would have it, he died before she did, even though he was some 20 years younger.
She continued to stay on in Austria until a few years after his death, to "look after" her "in laws" - i.e. Werner's second family. They weren't really technically her in-laws.
I think it was right of her not to talk about any of this while she was alive.
I do not expect any "Burmese" would understand this - they are so quick to condemn and vilify, especially to trash the reputation of women, while the men can only be called "small d-"
If I left this as a comment in one of the Burmese magazines, I am sure I would get a lot of small d comments, but by now Aunty Dora is past caring, and so am I.
Kyi May Kaung

FAIR USE NOTICEThis site contains some copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sec_17_00000107----000-.html. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.